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Some drug makers cut payments, meals provided to doctors

Two pharmaceutical companies that are among the biggest payers of fees to doctors reduced such spending last year by double-digit percentages, as greater transparency sheds light on the hundreds of millions of dollars the industry pays physicians for marketing and research efforts (Loftus, 4/10).

12 Apr 2013

Mayo CEO's expansion comments draw Minn. lawmaker criticism; Other state marketplace news

Comments from the Mayo Clinic's CEO that the organization's proposed expansion in Minnesota could happen elsewhere are drawing criticism from Minnesota lawmakers.

12 Apr 2013

Targeting pathway may lead to better hypertension treatments for at-risk patients

Obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure (hypertension) are all related, but understanding the molecular pathways that underlie cause and effect is complicated.

12 Apr 2013

Viewpoints: GOP leaders reject Obama's budget compromise; President's entitlements proposal is 'modest;' Mental illness in prison

Curbing the rise of Social Security benefits and raising Medicare premiums for higher-income people were two of the highest priorities for Republican leaders just a few months ago. Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leader, said last fall that if Mr. Obama proposed them, he would consider allowing tax revenue to go up.

12 Apr 2013

State highlights: Blue Shield could lose exclusive contract for Calif. workers, retirees; Texas health commission asks for increase in Medicaid premiums

Blue Shield of California may be losing its longtime grip on one of the health care industry's most coveted insurance contracts. Officials at the California Public Employees' Retirement System are recommending breaking up Blue Shield's current statewide HMO contract and replacing it with as many as four health plans for more than 400,000 public workers and their families (Terhune, 4/11).

12 Apr 2013

Researchers show how Src kinase influences inner workings of cells

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have "rationally rewired" some of the cell's smallest components to create proteins that can be switched on or off by command.

12 Apr 2013

Obama uses budget to inch closer to 'grand bargain' with GOP

The budget blueprint, released Wednesday, includes what the president called "manageable" curbs on Medicare spending growth, but GOP congressional leaders were dismissive, while some Democrats were unsettled.

12 Apr 2013

Ohio Gov. vows to keep trying on Medicaid expansion; Ark. lawmakers near key votes on issue

The Ohio House is dropping expansion from Gov. John Kasich's budget while he says hospitals and other stakeholders must help in the effort to expand the health care program for low-income people. Meanwhile, supporters of an expansion try to rally support in Arkansas.

12 Apr 2013

More details: Paying for health exchanges, other parts of the health law's implementation

According to the Obama administration's 2014 budget document, the federal government will spend about $4 billion on federal- and state-run marketplaces for individual and small businesses purchasing insurance coverage.

12 Apr 2013

Longer looks: Global obesity, health care cost transparency, a medical puzzle

Getting your appendix out can cost between $2,000 and $180,000. Hip replacements run from $10,000 to more than $100,000. Hospitals, we have also learned, frequently mark up the price of cotton swabs and routine X-rays by 300 or 400 percent, with most patients oblivious to the reason their health care bills are so large.

12 Apr 2013

Report: Fewer employees getting health insurance at work, paying more

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report found that employer-sponsored coverage fell from 69 to 60 percent between 1999 and 2010.

12 Apr 2013

Alzheimer's Association lauds Obama Administration for dedicating additional $100M to fight Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Association commends the Obama Administration for dedicating an additional $100 million within the President's FY 2014 budget toward the fight against Alzheimer's and the implementation of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease.

12 Apr 2013

Obama budget would replace SGR formula, boost Medicaid, mental health

Among the changes included in the president's 2014 budget blueprint are the elimination of the SGR formula to set Medicare physician payment rates, and funding boosts for mental health and food and drug safety. The proposal also delays funding cuts to hospitals that treat the uninsured.

12 Apr 2013

Budget plan would allow federal employees to add same-sex partners to their health plans

The Obama blueprint would create beginning in 2015 a "self plus one" category within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.

12 Apr 2013

American Pain Society to organize 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting in May

The 32ed Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Pain Society will convene May 8-11 at the New Orleans Convention Center. APS is the leading multidisciplinary professional organization in the United States dedicated to advancing pain-related research, education, treatment and team-oriented professional practice.

12 Apr 2013

Bill Gates, Melinda Gates highlight connection between technology, health

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "delivered a speech themed 'investment for the poor' at the Boao Forum for Asia held in south China's Hainan Province from Saturday to Monday," Xinhua reports.

11 Apr 2013

Disease burden from air pollution underestimated, U.N. reports

"Air pollution is an underestimated scourge that kills far more people than AIDS and malaria and a shift to cleaner energy could easily halve the toll by 2030, U.N. officials said on Tuesday" at a conference in Oslo focusing on new development goals for the post-2015 development agenda, Reuters reports.

11 Apr 2013

Global health efforts a casualty of across-the-board cuts under 'sequester'

"The across-the-board cuts under the 'sequester' will undermine efficient programs, along with the inefficient. One unfortunate casualty is spending on global health efforts," a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial says.

11 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 11, 2013

Today's headlines include details regarding how Medicare and Medicaid, as well as funding for the health law's implementation, fared in President Barack Obama's budget plan.

11 Apr 2013

European Commission blueprint on post-2015 development agenda calls for framework addressing sustainability, poverty

"The European Commission has unveiled a blueprint for global development aid and called on world leaders to replace the Millennium Development Goals with an international aid framework based on sustainable and inclusive development tackling poverty at its roots," Inter Press Service reports.

11 Apr 2013

Health Care News and Research

Some drug makers cut payments, meals provided to doctors

Mayo CEO's expansion comments draw Minn. lawmaker criticism; Other state marketplace news

Targeting pathway may lead to better hypertension treatments for at-risk patients

Viewpoints: GOP leaders reject Obama's budget compromise; President's entitlements proposal is 'modest;' Mental illness in prison

State highlights: Blue Shield could lose exclusive contract for Calif. workers, retirees; Texas health commission asks for increase in Medicaid premiums

Researchers show how Src kinase influences inner workings of cells

Obama uses budget to inch closer to 'grand bargain' with GOP

Ohio Gov. vows to keep trying on Medicaid expansion; Ark. lawmakers near key votes on issue

More details: Paying for health exchanges, other parts of the health law's implementation

Longer looks: Global obesity, health care cost transparency, a medical puzzle

Report: Fewer employees getting health insurance at work, paying more

Alzheimer's Association lauds Obama Administration for dedicating additional $100M to fight Alzheimer's

Obama budget would replace SGR formula, boost Medicaid, mental health

Budget plan would allow federal employees to add same-sex partners to their health plans

American Pain Society to organize 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting in May

Bill Gates, Melinda Gates highlight connection between technology, health

Disease burden from air pollution underestimated, U.N. reports

Global health efforts a casualty of across-the-board cuts under 'sequester'

First Edition: April 11, 2013

European Commission blueprint on post-2015 development agenda calls for framework addressing sustainability, poverty

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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